Im done playing by the rules of someone elses game
by chandeleerluvsduckies
Summary: It's sixth year and Cho is head girl. Cho and Asher, the head boy, are forcing her to fall in love with her enemy when there is someone else who truly needs her. Now hermione is faced with a question of rihgt and worng and a whole world she had never seen
1. frustration and agitation

Everyone was Partying like crazy now. People were shouting and dancing and going wild. It was only the first quidditch game but we had won it. Gryffindor probably wouldn't have cared that much if it hadn't been for the fact that the team they beat was Slytherin. I however cared, but not as much as the others did. I was busy writing an essay for Slughorn. Of course I wanted my best work and didn't want this game to get in the way. I had gone out and watched it- and it's slimy seeker (who of course, being malfoy, spent more time knocking people off brooms than looking for the snitch). But we had won so the little bugger would lay low for a couple of days hopefully.

I heard someone yelling my name just then, "Hermione? Hermione! Where are you? Have you seen what they did? HERMIONE!!"

Ginny walked toward me and with an exasperated sigh said, " Have you seen what happened to our room? It looks absolutely dreadful. It took me 30 minutes just to clean up my stuff. Somehow someone got into our room and tore it apart."

I looked up with what I am sure was quite an angry look and said, "show me! I'll find out which house has done it! Though no doubt it is the slytherins after we won today."

Ginny said that it couldn't have been a spell because none had been used there recently. We walked up the stairs quickly through the now mob-like crowd and into our dorm. I gasped loudly at what I saw. The room was really a mess. I was in shock. I decided we should go talk to the head girl: Cho. We needed to end the war because it was getting out of hand.

Ginny and I walked to the dorm of the head boy and girl and were astonished to see Draco being yelled at by Cho. Draco didn't even look sorry- just deeply into Cho's eyes. What a sleazebag. I for one didn't want to intrude and turns out neither did Ginny so we left and decided to try and tell Cho later.

As we walked down the hall Cho yelled after us, "Hey wait Hermione. We need to talk. Is after dinner okay?"

I thought for a moment then agreed. I mean so what if Cho wanted to talk to me. I thought I would just put my essay off until the next night. I had no idea that with what was going to Happen There wouldn't be time for anything else for a long time. 

And there we were in Cho's room. Apparently Skyler was out and wasn't going to be part of this meeting.

"People have been getting hurt badly in this fight. I bet most of you guys think we don't know about the house-war but everyone does. Even McGonnacal, and she told us this is what is to be done. I know that all of the houses have been in a war and people have been playing nasty tricks on each other for a while now, but it has to stop."   
At first I had thought it was a joke. I mean how mean could they be to do that to us? Not to mention that it probably wouldn't work either. It would be torture. At least with him…

" You will have to pretend to fall in love. I know your groaning in your minds right now but we need to make the houses have a reason to treat each other nicely. You have two days before it begins. If you can stop the house-war before then you will not have to do this. Now let me tell you who your match is. Also if any of you tell anyone you will be expelled. Is that understood? Good. now for the pairs." 

The next words were gushed like a fountain of sewer water from Cho's mouth.

"Asher from Ravenclaw you will be with Ellisha from Hufflepuff." Asher looked disapprovingly at Ellisha. Ellisha didn't seem to care. She had already snogged every boy on Hufflepuff.

I didn't hear my name, but Malfoy and I looked at each other with great dislike. We hadn't heard our names, but being the only two left we knew who we would be partnered with and did not like the idea at all.

"Draco from Slytherin with Hermione from Gryffindor. All accounted for? Good. Now we shall start in two days. Remember, I will be watching your progress everyday. Goodnight to you all. Enjoy the rest of your time."

Enjoy our time? It was crazy really. Thinking about what she had asked us to do not an hour early mad me shudder. I couldn't even tell Harry or Ron! Ron would think I really liked Malfoy and then he would never talk to me. Let alone ever be nice to me or... I listed off possibilities in my head like I could list facts from Hogwarts, a history. It was overwhelming really. I just didn't like the concept at all. I went to bed wondering what I was going to do.

Over the next two days I tried to convince Harry to tell people there would be no more Gryffindor quidditch team if people didn't stop our end of the war. But Harry said even if he did want to end the war he would not sacrifice the team for anything.

So every time I saw someone pulling a prank: leaving exploding snaps in someone's slippers, dropping baby devils snare in peoples drinks, or even just saying made you look, I would run over undo the thing and then give the person doing a lecture. I could tell people were getting sick of me. Even with all my efforts nothing was changing.

The others efforts weren't paying off either. When Draco told people they should stop the war everyone thought he was joking. At the same time no one would even think about listening to Asher's pleas for it to stop.

In no time the two days were over. Cho pulled us all over in the hallway and reminded us that we needed to start our, as she put it, "Little Project."

I knew all too well that we started today. I had been thinking of a plan and had sent a single rose to Draco with no name to get his friends thinking someone liked him. And if that wasn't enough I said in it this:

Dearest Draco,

Please meet me at the room of requirement at 11:15. Don't bring anyone.

I knew it was corny but I hoped he would get who had sent it. I was hopping to make a plan. I had a bit of and idea but it wasn't great. I was hoping he would have some better ones. Actually I was praying because mine was a little, okay, very see-through. All I had was that I had fallen for him when we went to a party over the summer and were the only kids. I know, I know, it's really dumb but I didn't have anything else. I pushed the ideas out of my head for a while and lay on my bed, it would be my last chance to dream of Ron without feeling guilty. I thought of his sweet face and the hair so fiery you could boil water on it, and his cute dimples and tiny speckled freckles, But mostly I thought of his deep ocean-like blue eyes. They drew me into him like there was no tomorrow. I smiled hugely and before I knew it I was asleep with visions of Ron kissing me lightly on the lips and me, looking into those beautiful eyes.

I showed up at the room of requirement that night hoping desperately that Malfoy would show up. I scanned the pictures on the wall and talked to a portrait of a princess for a little while. She was boring and vain but I was left with nothing else to do until a chilling voice behind me spoke up, "ready to get down and dirty granger?"

"Malfoy!" I said as I spun around with a look of disgust, "we will do no such thing!"

I pointed him into the room and the door had been there for ages because I had opened it half and hour ago. I turned on my heel and walked into the dark room. It was lit by a few candles and had two soft chairs for us to sit in as well as two simmering cups of chamomile tea. I asked him to sit down and followed suit myself. Malfoy had something to say though, "look, if we are going to do this I will be in charge. Also you won't wear your hair all ratty like that, I can't even pretend to not- hate someone with hair that terrible. I'd also like to lay some ground rules, number one, no being rude to me no matter how bad you want to, I of course have to do the same thing if we're going to pull this off. Number two, I want you to do your hair nice, wear nice clothes, and have nice shoes… I think you get the idea. I of course, will also do the same. Number three, you must pretend you are not a mudblood. Everyone already knows you are but if anyone says anything about it, tell them it was a lie to get attention and you are actually pure. This one, for obvious reasons, I will not follow. Understood? Now go to bed." 

"Malfoy, you can try all you want, but I will never pretend to be pure, stuck up, disgusting, creature like you! You are not to order me around either. And for your information Cho says we are sharing a prefect dorm!"

Hermione and Draco sat like that, staring, glaring at each other until Hermione stomped away to the dorm she would be sharing with Draco. "Well I have to say that went well, she will be putting her hair up I suppose, that is all that really matters. At least I won't be going with an ugly mudblood."


	2. The new girl

As her Hermione lifted her head off the pillow her long curly brown hair slid of the edge of the bed. Hermione looked down at the thick curly locks and remembered what Malfoy had said. " I want you to do your hair nice, wear nice clothes, and have nice shoes… I think you get the idea… You won't wear your hair all ratty like that, I can't even pretend to not- hate someone with hair that terrible."

She shot upright into an almost perfect ninety-degree angle and fumed. Anyone would have known she was mad because of the way her eyes were scrunched so tight and the bridge of her nose was furled. As she realized she hadn't breathed out the bridge of he nose unfurled and she smoothed her face. She repeated it to herself over and over in her head- Draco will not get in my way no matter what.

She turned her body so her feet rested on the floor, but the socks on them, though wool and thick, were no match for the bitter cold. A silence had fallen upon the castle with the snowflakes that had fallen during the night. Hermione looked back and forth between the two walls of her room. She hadn't seen them last night when she had gone to bed but there really were some elegant paintings and furniture. A large bureau painted with elegant gold flowers and swirls sat on her right. The body of the giant thing was red and green. Hermione was sure it was old and loved it straight away until she noticed what was on the other side of the room. It wasn't big, not really that big at all. It was a tiny nook that branched off from the room right in the center of the wall next to a wicker chair. The best part was it had a window and a door. The door melded into the wall so if you didn't know there was a room there you wouldn't think there could be. It would be a perfect hiding spot. The little window was small and covered in snow. She unlatched and opened it. A rush of cold filled the nook but it didn't matter because Hermione was fixed on something else entirely- the view. The window was looking over Hemione's favorite part of the castle. It was looking down over the quidditch field. This nook was where Hermione would learn to live. Ron would be down there and she would be up here longing for the day when his fiery red hair and speckled face would belong to her. Inside the room was awesome too. There was a small squishy chair that sat across from the window and piled next to it was a stack to the ceiling (which was about five feet high) of books of all sorts- fiction, non-fiction, and historical, grammatical, and even hypothetical.

Hermione smiled but restrained herself from going in and shut the door instead. She plopped herself down at the desk with a large mirror in front of it. A hairbrush lay in front of her. He long fingers plucked up the hairbrush and brushed it back and forth on her hand. The bristles were soft; yet rough enough to pick any snarl. It was a hairbrush that could only exist in this world. At home she would have had one or the other, but her she could have both. Her favorite part of the wizarding world was just that- being able to have her cake and eat it too. Hermione decided that though Draco might get a kick out of her listening to him or it might scare him- the latter was favorable. Hermione smiled and stuck the brushes bristles sharply into her hair and teased them about. Twenty minutes and hundreds of different hairstyles later, she was ready. Her reflection was stunning although simple. It was perfect. She pulled on her robes and added a dash of glitter before sprinting down the stairs for a quick breakfast before ancient runes.

In the great hall Malfoy was shoveling rainbow flakes in his mouth when he turned to see and amazing sight- a new girl! She had most of her hair up in a bun but some strands in the back were left out and her hair was shining in the sun's light. She was tall and slender but had a bust nonetheless. Malfoy mentally kicked Cho. If it weren't for her he would be able to go flirt with this girl, but no, instead he was stuck with granger. Of all people it was Granger! He couldn't be expelled, not yet! He would have to pretend to be in love with her. He was a plant at the school now. He was the one spying on everything that happened and proceeding to show it to the dark lord. If he were expelled he would probably be killed as well. He shut his eyes and erased the image of the new girl. When he opened the he saw a face smiling at him. It was the new… OH MY GOSH! That wasn't a new girl! It was HERMIONE! He smiled hugely and ferociously before standing. He proceeded to strut over to her and plant a giant kiss on her lips. "morning darling," he said.


	3. Herbology and apologies

As Draco walked towards Herbology he was happy with himself. If Hermione could look like that everyday this could work out in his favor. He smiled and strutted towards green house four for his lesson. As he perched himself on the edge of bench he nudged Goyle, "did you see me this morning? 'Bet you wish you had some of that huh?"

Goyle turned pink, "But isn't she a, you know?"

Malfoy rolled his eyes and shook his head, " look, I know she's a mudblood but she's hot! I just want some action! Is that a …"

His sentenced wasn't finished because Professor Sprout walked over and shot them dirty looks, "boys, can you tell me how tentacle moss is used?" the looks she got showed that the answer was obviously not.

She turned to Neville who had his hand up and pointed a chubby finger at him, " If you mix it with werewolf hair you get a potion that can put out cursed fire. It is dangerous to use though because the tentacles have a very deadly poison inside that can kill you on contact," he said looking proud.

Professor sprout continued, " yes, and I would like you all to move the tentacle moss to smaller pots which can stunt the poison growth until later in it's life when it is ready to be picked."

Malfoy pulled on a pair of thick gloves and started to rip up hunks of moss and pat them down in new containers. In his minds eye he saw the way Hermione had looked and was surprised. He wondered why she had actually listened to him. He didn't realize when one of his moss' tentacles started to ooze. He heard screaming and turned to look at what he was doing. He saw a green oozing glob of the poison rolling toward his arm he screamed a blood-curdling scream and stood up and ran out of the greenhouse followed by the rest of the class. Professor sprout followed and rounded up the kids out side the classroom that were screaming or talking about how gross it was.

Hermione felt disgusted, she had just let the biggest prat ever kiss her, on the lips no less. She tried to erase the image from her mind and heard Ron come up behind her swearing, "Shit Hermione, you never told me you liked that weasel! I thought it was weird you had your hair all up like that, but for him? And you kissed him in front of everyone! What were you thinking? I can't believe you that were like the dumbest fucking thing I have ever seen! Who are you going to make out with next? Blaise zambini? Harry?"

Hermione looked at him in surprise she knew he would be mad but she had expected more of the cold shoulder Ron gave when he was mad. It was weird for the first time he had actually told her what he thought and it was the one time she couldn't change anything. She was stuck with her archenemy and there was nothing she could do about it. She stomped to her dorm and sat quietly down on her bed, there was nothing she could do and every moment was pulling her further into this mess.

She decided to work on her essay for Slughorn again and was having trouble concentrating when she heard a knock on her door. She didn't have to look up to know who it was; malfoy was the only other person who knew the password. She kept writing and was only stopped when she felt his big hand rest on her shoulder. She looked up at her and said something she never thought she would hear him say, "Sorry Mudblood."

She gave him a questioning look and he explained, " I just got yelled at by pansy, she's really pissed that we are going out and she started to cry. It made me feel sorry that the same thing probably happened to you with Ron."

Hermione snorted, "Ron? Crying over me? I don't think so! He was just protective and mad that I would go out with an ugly weasel."

"I'm sorry I tried to be nice I'll remember that you don't like it from now on."

He stormed out of the room and she laughed, and laughed and laughed. She lay down and laughed until her throat hurt and decided to take a nap.

When she woke up she was late for potions. She ran out of the room with her wand and scales and down the corridor. She just made it in time and got seated just as snape strode into the room. She was sitting next to Ron who was furiously scribbling what was obviously the homework that was due right now. Hermione put her hand on his leg and squeezed it tight and heard the furious scribbling stop and looked up at his surprised face. She wrote him a note that he picked up and looked surprised, "meet me on the fourth floor corridor tonight at eight and I'll make it up to you." He nodded.

The rest of the class was usual Neville almost killed Harry by overflowing his cauldron and Ron mixed in too much wolfs bane and their potion turned a shade you only saw when someone had just been sick. He gave her and apologetic look but she shrugged and bottled their potion any way bringing it up to the front of the room where snape looked very displeased. She grabbed her bag and folded her scales before rushing off to ancient runes.


End file.
